Hackers’ Next Victim: Nintendo

On Sunday, June 5, 2011, it was reported that Nintendo Co. had been hacked. The security breach on their network was not as severe as the one on Sony’s PlayStation Network. Hackers were not able to obtain any sensitive information, nor have the attacks caused any damage to internal systems that would inconvenience their customers in any way. The latest attack has raised questions over who exactly is responsible for hacking these online servers.

Unlike many security breaches which are done anonymously at the hands of obscure hackers, the group who took public responsibility for hacking Nintendo is called LulzSec. LulzSec has claimed responsibility for hacking other websites, as well, including some of the Sony websites. LulzSec stated on Twitter: “We’re not targeting Nintendo…we sincerely hope Nintendo plugs the gap.” The group also confirmed Nintendo’s claims that no important customer data was lost in the breach, stating, “we [sic] just got a config file and made it clear that we didn’t mean any harm. Nintendo had [sic] already fixed it anyway.” The recent string of security system breaches serves as a wake-up call for other companies to bolster security defenses on their own computer network.